Sagger and method of making the same



Nov. 28, 1933. A. WEBER, JR

SAGGER AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 6, 1932 O l /z/ 11/ 1/ NOV. 28, I A. WEBERq R SAGGER AND METHOD OF MAKING THHSAME Filed July 6, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L779U57 yy delicate and fragile.

Patented Nov. 28, 1933 SAGGER AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME 'August'WebenJn, Schenectady, Y. assignorto Weber Electric Company, Schenectady, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 6, 1932., Serial No. 621,111 2 6 Claims. (01125-153) The present invention relates to an improved sagger and method of making the same.

In the firing of porcelain and other earthenware articles, it is the practice to subject these articles to extremely high temperatures in a kiln or furnace. As the clay or other material, of which the'po'rcelain articles are made, is intro duced into the kiln in a green state it'i'svery Consequently, it has been found necessary to protect the articles during the firing operation from the direct action of the'heating gases in the kiln by positioning them in saggers that may be conveniently mounted or; stacked one upon the other within the kiln. As

will be appreciated, it is extremely desirable that the capacity of the kiln be such as to accommodate as large a number of saggers as possible and that the heating operation be effectedex- (j. .p'editiously and economically.

A primary object of the present invention is to' provide means for increasing the exposed heating surface of the saggers and ,to reduce the weight thereof so as to effect a. substantial saving in fuel consumption during the'firing operation.

proved method of forming corrugated saggers having a concave or arch-shaped bottom in order to provide a relatively light sagger without impairing or lessening its strength and efficiency.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sagger with means for facilitating the heating and cooling of the articles carried by the saggers at a minimum expenditure of time and labor.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying claims'and drawings.

, Referring to the drawings, in which is shown 1 a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Figure 1 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 11 of Figure 2, showing a sagger having my invention applied thereto.

Figure 2 'is a'sectional View taken substantially along the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional View of a molding apparatus for forming the sagger.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals indicate like parts in the several views, and more particularly, Figures 1 and 2, l0 designates a sagger formed in accordance with my in vention, and has its exposed cylindrical side wall 11 provided with means for increasing the heating surface of the sagger, which means pref- A further object consists in a new'and imerably consist of a series of circumferentially disposed corrugations or grooves 12 that extend from a point beneath the top of thesagger to a point short ofithe oppositeend thereof. Ob-

viously, the increased heating surface may be disposed in a different position than that shown and may assume various other shapes. outer wall of the bottom 13 is preferably formed with a concave or arched shape surface 1e, while the inner surface 15 is preferably horizontally disposed so as to extend substantially parallel,

with the plane of theupper end or edge of the sagger. The corrugationsv 12, it will be seen not only increase the exposed heating surface,

but also substantially reduce the weight of the sagger, while the concave bottom 14 acts to further reduce the weight of the sagger, and also" permits'the saggers to be stacked or placed onev upon the other in the furnace, so that the articles carried thereby may extend a limited distance e n d within the adjacent sagger without torted or engaging.. therewith.

The sagger is pr'eferablyshaped in amolding apparatus that has a hollowsupportingmernber 8O .16'which receives the outer die or'shell l7 an'dthe inner die or plunger 13 (Fig. 3). The member-16 has its bottom closed by a reciprocating piston 19 that is actuated by a shaft 20 which is connected to any suitable 'driving'mech'anism such as that shown inmy Patent No. 676,806, Jan.'18,

. The die 17 is preferably formed with sectional side wa1ls'20 that are "hinged together a at (Fig 4) ',.so that when the die is removed frointhe member 16, after completion of the molding operation of the sagger 10, the sections 20*rnay swing about their hinges 21, so as to be conveniently withdrawn from the outer wall of the corrugated sagger. Whi1e' any number of sections 20 maybe employed, six are preferably used.

The inner wall-0f each of the sections 20 may be provided .with curved projections or ribs. 22 for forming the corrugations 12 in theouter or exposed wall of the sagger 10. The die 17 has its bottom 23 supported by the piston 19 when'it is inserted in the molding apparatus and has its upper surface providedwith a substantially convex shaped portion 24 forforming the concave wall 14 of the sagger. The inner die or plunger 18 is provided with anupper peripheral annular flange 25, which snuglyv engages the adjacent wall of the die 17 to prevent the escape of the clay; during the molding operation. In order toform the concave surface 14 in. the bottom 13 of, the

sagger and insure the bottom maintaining the-de- 2 Y a v sired shape during the firing and drying operation, a steel disc 26 is-preferably positioned within the die 1'7 and is of substantially the same con-' figuration as the convex upper surface 24.

To form the sagger 10 it will be assumed that the piston 19 and outer die 17 are in the position as shown in Figure 3, while the inner die 18 is withdrawn from the member 16 a suflicient distance to permit access to the die 17. The desired amount of green clay to form the sagger is first placed on the disc 26 and the die 18 is then intro-.

duced into the outer die 17 until the inner die engages the plastic mass of clay. Further down- Ward'movement of the inner die 18 causes the plastic material to be compressed between the convex bottom 24. and the corrugated walls of the sections 20. During this operation the material is forced to flow upwardly aroundthe in-' her die until it engages the flange 25, so as to i completely fill the mold cavity. After themolding operation has been completed the outer die member 17, and its associated parts are withdrawn from the member 16 by therupward movement of the piston 19.

die 17 is then removed so that the sagger is at- ;tached to and supported .by the plunger 18 and the bottom plate 23. The plate 23 is then removed from the sagger by inserting a suitable tool such as a bradawl between the disc26 and the bottom so as to separateihese parts. The

plate 23 may then assume its position in engagev ment with the pistonj l9.. The shaft 27 1s then raised so that a sagger board or pallet-(not shown) may be placed uponthe top of the shell 16, so as to support the core or inner die 18 with the green sagger and attached disc 26. The inner die 18 is then removed from the saggerby the bradawl tool by piercing a hole through the clay wall of the sagger along the line of the bottom of the die which permits the air toenter so that the die may'readily be removed. This completes the operation leaving the pressed or formed saggeron the boardwith the disc 26 still attached to the bottom of the'green sagger. After the surface of the sagger exposed to heat is about thirty per cent greater than that of the old style un-corrugated sagger, so that while my sagger is of substantially the same size and capacity as the standard types, it is more quickly heated and cooled, and effects a saving of about one-third quently, my improved sagger can always be placed The whole mass is raised until the bottom edge of the sectional die 1'7 is, flush with the top of the shell or member 16, The

the appended claims.

reducing the weight thereof. I

than those as heretofore made, itwill be seen that in a kiln having a capacity of two thousand saggers, the use of my invention effects a total saving in weight of about fourteenthousand pounds and a corresponding saving in fuel consumption.

Saggers employed in treating electrical porcelain articles are rather heavy, so that the bottom saggers are subjected to a considerable load. I As the concentric stacks of articles to be treated are piled up from around the center towards the outer edge of each sagger, it will be evident that i the load is gradually increased to the thicker part of the bottom 13. It has been found in actual practice that even'afterthe sagger constructed in accordance with my invention has been used from ten to fifteentimes, the bottom does not sag or fall below the level of theold style saggers having parallel'bottoms. Conseon top' of another sagger that iscompletely filled or loaded and no allowance has to be made for bottoms that have dropped or sagged I I It is to be understood that the sagger an method of forming the same is merely illustrative of a preferred-embodiment andthat such changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as .fall' within the pur-f view of one skilled in the art and the scope of I I claim:

1. A sagger having its exposed wall formed with corrugations for increasingthe heatingisurface of the sagger and reducing the weight thereof.

'2. A saggerhaving its bottom provided with a horizontally disposed upper surface and a concave undersurface, the .outer side wall of the sagger provided with spaced corrugations for increasing the heating surface of the saggerand f reducing the weight thereof. f

3. A sagger having its bottom provided with I an exposed concave surface andthe side wall" thereof formed externally with corrugations for increasing the heating surface of the sagger and 4. A sagger having its side wall formed with means for increasing the heating surface thereof. said means being positioned whollyw'ithin the plane of the wall of the sagger. 5. A sagger having its exposed :wallformed with means for increasing the heating surface and reducing the weight of the sagger, said means being positioned wholly within the plane of" the. outer wall of the sagger. V a

6. The method of making saggers which consists informing spaced corrugations in" "the outer wall of the sagger and forming the bottom with a concave surface. and temporarily attaching a shape holder to the bottom whereby to insure V hardened. in total weight over the type of saggersnow in a use. Asmy sagger is about seven pounds lighter 3 AUGUST WEBER, JRQ

612 a. i i i 1 1 3140 

